Black Cop

Posted on Jul 5, 2018

Creator: Cory Bowles

Nominator: Nelson MacDonald

Produced by Aaron Horton and premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017, Black Cop is Cory Bowles’ first feature-length film. A provocative satire, the film implicates audiences in the phenomenon of anti-black racism. Bowles is a well-known African-Nova Scotian screen actor, dancer and choreographer who brought all of his skills to the making of Black Cop. Remarkably, the film integrates material in a variety of formats, including POV shots from chest cams, cell phones and TV news footage, with direct address monologues and radio talk show chatter.

The jury marveled that this film addressing blackness in Canada got made at all. They commented that the work reflects a personalized artistic vision, which can be difficult to achieve in narrative feature films. Finally, they praised “the revolutionary way in which this film engages and understands both the Black and the white gaze.”